more than dirt

This past weekend was our annual trip to the mountains camping with my dads family.  I look forward to the trip every year.  We all love to camp and be outdoors.  Some of us are more experienced than others and between us all we have every gadget, toy, and necessity you could imagine.  I am fairly certain my uncle John is the worlds best manly man and could handle anything in a tent and sleeping bag!  He is fun to watch.  I love camping.  This past weekend my cousin Chad came from San Fran to camp with us and he asked us all "what is your favorite part about camping".  I think the campfire at night was a big favorite, shooting our guns, atv's, the quiet...there were lots of answers.  For me?

I love all of it.  I love looking at the world through the eyes of my kids.  There is something so freeing about not caring how much dirt they sit in.  Watching their imaginations at work turning nature into a playground.  Blake and Maddie and Jonathan went on a "journey" to the open field right behind our camp and brought back an Elk jaw bone!  You never know what nature has in store for you!  I love listening to the quiet and looking up to see all the stars you can't see in the city.  I love the time spent on this trip every year with my family that I don't get to see as often as I would like.  I like unplugging and just relaxing.  All of it.

Our kids are at great ages for camping and handled it like troopers.  Of course it was cold at night, but not too bad and the kids handled sleeping in a tent amazing!  Blake would live camping if I let him and he even told me so yesterday.  This trip we saw Antelope, Buffalo, cute little chipmunks, fish, snail shells, butterflies that would just land on our hands, a momma and baby deer!  Those magical moments are the moments I hope my kids remember the most!  I love that Blake was "batman' all weekend with a simple cape I made from a trashbag.  I love that when we got home, the bath water was brown, the kids were tired, the sleeping was peaceful and we woke up ready to go again in a few weeks.